


Melody in the Mist

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 07:30:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/795455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One man's survival.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Melody in the Mist

## Melody in the Mist

by OCONN

NOT a death story.

* * *

The early morning mist blanketed the hills. The darkness was being chased away by the sun; its light a glow warming everything it touched. In the valley below, morning birds began their songs as the sounds of the night faded into memory. 

As the fog rolled back, dissipating under the heat of the new day, a lone figure emerged on the edge of the clearing. It stepped back into the cover of the forest, hiding behind trees and under old stumps springing with new life, as the tranquil peace of the new day erupted in chaos. 

Long minutes passed before the man, for surely that was what he had once been called, cautiously reappeared. His eyes darted around, rapidly scanning his surroundings before deciding to continue. He reached up to a low branch of the gnarled old apple tree and plucked two of the fruits and quickly stuffed them into his sack. He paused to scent the air before moving on. 

"It's safe for now," he mumbled to himself. 

Two steps later, he heard them: the faint tinkle of chimes like a melody on a spring breeze. He quickly hugged the sound to his soul, for it played the same lullaby he'd heard in his dreams for the last nine nights, the song of warmth and love and safety. Of longing and peace. He locked away the feeling deep in his heart before it could be ripped from his grasp by the harsh reality of his existence. A split second later, the sound was gone and he was alone again. His heart wanted to cry out, but he knew he shouldn't for one day he would find out what the chimes heralded. Instead he sighed heavily. Maybe that day would be today. 

His day continued, time being marked by walking, eating, and resting. Now, as the day drew to a close, as the year ended, he sat beside the stream listening to the tranquil water whisper and watching the sun fade. When darkness fell again he made his way home and tried to sleep. He wasn't sure if he wanted to sleep but knew that he eventually would. 

A small part of him hoped he would sleep through the night undisturbed but a larger part knew to stay alert. His survival could depend on being aware of his surroundings. But as the night wore on, he passed into a deep sleep and it was there he heard the soft, murmuring song of the mist. The music surrounded him, filling his soul with its golden warmth, and bringing with it the memory of the beloved face, of the merry laugh, and those luminous eyes. The music pushed away the disturbing nightmares he'd had since he found himself here all alone and in dire need of forgetting. 

In the morning he gathered himself up and began again. To the outside world it was a new year, but that mattered little to him. Walking, eating, resting. Forgetting. Only they mattered. But as the darkness was yet again being pushed away by the dawn, the mist blanketing the hills, he felt something, something different. And this time, when the sun began to warm the landscape with its glow and he reappeared just inside the edge of the clearing, the mist rolled back to reveal another figure. 

Jim listened as the chimes in the mist tinkled in time to the other man's movement across the grass. 

"Blair?" he whispered, afraid that his voice would chase away the vision before him. And he knew he couldn't take it if his love disappeared and he was left alone again. 

"Jim?!" The joyous cry rang out across the space between them, startling the morning birds into flight and freezing Jim in his tracks. 

He couldn't move and his ears picked up the suddenly crashing beat of Blair's heart. He dropped to his knees, keening softly as the sound overwhelmed him. Then suddenly all was quiet, clamed by the touch he'd thought he would never feel again. 

"Hush, Love. It's all going to be OK. I'm here now. With you and I'll never leave you again." The words were soft and the touch soothing to his overwhelmed senses and Jim looked up into his lover's face. 

"You're alive?" 

"Yes, I am. I always was," Blair whispered as he placed a gentle kiss on his lover's lips. 

"But how?" 

"A big mistake. False reports and a crooked sheriff. I'm sorry you were hurt." 

"Can you take me home?" 

"Of course, Love. Let's go." 

They walked away, Jim leaning on Blair as he was helped back to the cabin. All around them, the melody in the mist played out its final notes, ending the nightmare of Jim's existence and heralding the arrival of the rest of his life. 

* * *

End Melody in the Mist by OCONN: j804gdt@earthlink.net

Author and story notes above.

  
Disclaimer: _The Sentinel_ is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount. 


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